Francis Ford Coppola Pulls Tetro Out of Cannes

Tetro, the first movie Francis Ford Coppola has written and directed since 2007's Youth Without Youth, had been buzzed to be making its debut at Cannes since a Variety report from earlier in the week suggested it might. Shot in Argentina, it stars noted thespian and internet sperm merchant Vincent Gallo as a "brilliant but melancholy and self-destructive" writer living in Buenos Aires.

Now comes a statement from the director in which he explains that he'll be keeping his fragile film hatchling far from the grubby paws of that festival's snail-gobbling coastal elitists:

"While I very much appreciate the invitation, this is an independent film, self-financed and self released, and I felt that being invited for a non-competition gala screening wasn't true to the personal and independent nature of this film. More important than Cannes, our team can focus all our time, energy and resources into the U.S. release this June 11th."

Wait, Francis, I'm confused. Is this about sour grapes over getting a competition slot, or did you legitimately not want a Cannes dog and pony show leaving droppings all over your "personal and independent" film?

Anyway, the film will screen at the San Francisco and Seattle fests instead, reports Variety, and will self-distribute through American Zoetrope. And it's not just in black and white! The release tells us it's in "color too." Is brown a color? We suppose.

· Tetro